Lost Years
by Yaa
Summary: This is my version of events if Paige's powers were never bound and she ended living on the streets. She somehow runs into her sisters and it's up to the Elders to decide her fate. Finished.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own any of the Charmed people or things.

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Chapter 1

Paige had to be given away at birth, to 'protect' her. It hadn't worked. Her powers were never bound and when she was too young to understand the dangers of using them, her powers began to freak people out. She went from foster home to foster home, not the greatest thing in the world. Because of their fear, her foster parents, (more than one set), abused her and were always yelling at her. When she turned 15, she dropped out of school and ran away.

Paige was now almost 20, in her years living on the street, she had developed her powers. She knew about demons, they were attacking her constantly because of how powerful she was, (she is a charmed one after all, even though she didn't know it). She may not have had the Book of Shadows, but she managed to find her way around the demons one way or another.

But she was still a human, and she had learned long ago not to use her power in public, so when it came to surviving outside of demon attacks, she did not use her power. Meaning that she survived by hiding in an ally and ambushing anyone who came down.

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Prue was out taking some pictures of different parts of the city for her magazine. She was trying to capture both the good and the bad parts of the city to give readers a fuller view.

She turned down a likely looking ally and when she got about halfway down it, something hit her in the back and sent her stumbling to the ground. Rolling over she saw a girl with short red hair standing over her.

"Your money if you please." the girl said and Prue noticed that she looked like she hadn't had a shower in about a year and it might have been a week since she had a good meal. But all the same, the girl was mugging her. Prue waved her hand to send the girl flying, the thing is it had no affect whatsoever.

"You're money." The girl said again. Prue once again waved her hand, and once again it produced no result. The girl was barring down on her, so Prue pulled out her money and threw it at the girl. She hadn't expected that to work, Prue was sure the girl was a demon so she was surprised when the girl took the money excitedly and moved out of Prues way. "Thanks" she called and disappeared into the shadows.

Pure would have loved to ponder why the girl who had just mugged her had bothered to thank her, but at the moment she was just concerned with why her power hadn't worked. She waved her hand at a trashcan and it fell over with a clatter. At least her power still worked on other things. But that girl?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 

Prue walked in the front door of the Halliwell Manor. "Piper, Phoebe!" she yelled. "In the kitchen" was her reply. "Get any good – Oh my god, what happened to you?" Prue was covered in dirt from her fall and she didn't look happy. "Well, to put it bluntly, I was mugged."

"What about your powers?" Phoebe asked after being assured that Prue was ok.

"They didn't work, I tried using them on her and they had no effect."

"Leo!" Piper yelled. She was answered by a swirl of blue orbs. "Yes honey?" Leo asked. Prue told him about what had happened and he left to go check with the elders.

A few minuets later he reappeared, "Theirs nothing wrong with your powers, so either your mugger was a good witch, or a very powerful demon who found some way to counteract your power. If so it would explain why they attacked you, to see if it worked."

"Ok, I'm willing to bet that a good witch wouldn't go amount mugging people, so Phoebe, can you make a potion to vanquish a powerful demon?" Prue asked her youngest sister.

"I'll need to go get more supplies, I'll go first thing tomorrow." Phoebe answered.

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Paige was sitting in the corner of the old warehouse she called her home. It wasn't much, but it kept the wind and rain off of her and provided places for her to hide the signs of her magic.

She looked sown sadly at the ten-dollar bill in her hand. It was all that was left from the $150 she had received that morning. She had needed to restock her potion supply and it had cost her more that she had thought. She would have to go out again tomorrow and hope someone came along.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 

Phoebe walked into the potion store, collected what she needed and went to pay for it. As she was turning over her credit card, a vision flashed into her head. A girl was handing over some money to pay for potions.

Phoebe looked up at the lady at the cash register. "Was there a girl here the other day, with short red hair, a little taller than me?"

The lady looked thoughtful, than replied, "Do you mean Paige? She comes by here now and then and buys a lot of stuff for advanced potions. I never ask where she gets the money, but I don't think she gets it honestly."

'Probably Prues money', Phoebe thought, and then voiced aloud, "Do you know where I can find her?"

"Try walking around some of the back streets, it looked like she used almost all of her money yesterday, and she might need more."

Phoebe thanked her and left the store. She dropped off the potion supplies in the car. She thought about calling Prue and Piper, but decided against it. They were busy, and she was very good at the martial arts.

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Phoebe had been walking around for almost three hours, she was tired, hungry, and she wanted to get home. "I'll never find her she grumbled." Until found herself flat on the ground with the girl standing over her. The girl opened her mouth but Phoebe cut her off. "Are you Paige? The lady at the potion store told me about you, I've been trying to find you for three hours. I'm not a demon." Phoebe added quickly when she noticed Paige stiffen.

"Funny thing, I don't believe you. Why would you come looking for me if you weren't a demon?" Paige asked not lowering her guard.

"You attacked my sister yesterday, and she was worried because her power didn't work on you. We thought you were a demon who had found a way to get around our powers." Phoebe said hurriedly, not wanting to start a fight. To her surprise Paige blushed.

"Sorry about that, that must be why she kept waving her arm at me."

"Well, now that we both know that we're not demons, I guess I'll see you around." Phoebe said getting up.

"Not so fast." Paige said holding out her hand, "Your money first." Phoebe was taken aback, but she pulled out her money and handed it to Paige. As her hand brushed Paige's hand, a premonition filled her mind. A baby was being born, it had to be Paige. A man was standing nearby watching, (wait, was that Sam!! Their mothers wightlighter?) Then the baby was passed to the mother. The premonition ended, but the vision was still flashing before her mind. She looked around for Paige, but found herself alone. Alone with a single thought racing through her mind, what did her premonition mean?


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 

Phoebe drove home in a trance, the images from her premonition haunting her mind. When she got home she stumbled into the kitchen, dropped the bags on the counter, and went into the living room where she collapsed on the sofa.

'Maybe I say myself being born, maybe we were born at the same time and that triggered the premonition.' Phoebe thought, but than another thought replaced that. 'No, Sam was there, if it was me, or Piper, or Prue, our father would have been there.'

Phoebe tried to push back the thought that nagged at her mind the most, 'maybe she's our sister.' Phoebe tried to reason that that was impossible, she tried to talk herself into thinking that her premonition was wrong, but she knew it wasn't.

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Piper walked into the living room followed by Prue. They were discussing the girl (Paige), but stopped mid-sentence when they saw Phoebe, lying on the sofa, staring of into space, completely unaware of her surroundings.

"Phoebe?" Prue asked, and when it produced no result she said it again louder, "Phoebe!"

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Phoebe gave a start, it took her a few moments to realize where she was. She looked up to see Prue and Piper looking at her with concern.

"You ok?" Prue asked.

"No. Yes. Maybe" Was Phoebe's muddled response.

"What happened?" Piper talking this time.

Phoebe told them as best she could about the events of the afternoon, her head becoming clearer as she talked. When she finished, Prue said with as much conviction as she could muster, "Are you sure it wasn't a heat stroke or something, maybe you dozed off of a minute." And Piper added, "I mean, another sister, another sister who mugged you and Prue, mom would have said something."

"I know how this sounds guys, I've been trying to convince myself it's not true, but I can't. I know what my premonitions feel like, and I can't deny what I saw. We were drawn to her, why do you think that out of all the people in this town, she met Prue and me? That girl, Paige is our sister, half-sister anyway, and I think its time we talked to mom about this." Phoebe said.

The three of them trouped up to the attic and called their mom's spirit, wanting to know, but dreading the answer.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 

Paige was sitting in her warehouse, when a shadow fell over her. Spinning around, she formed an orb-ball (like an energy-ball but made of blue orbs instead of fire) in her hand and threw it at the intruder.

Piper yelped and put up her hands, the orb-ball stopped three feet away from her.

"Paige! Stop, it's me, Phoebe!" To Phoebe's surprise, Paige held out her hand and the orb-ball disappeared.

"Sorry," she said, "but I was expecting a demon, no one else ever comes looking for me."

"That's ok, these are my sisters. I believe you've already met Prue," here Paige blushed, "Sorry." She mumbled. "and this is Piper, the only one of us you haven't met yet." "We want you to come back to our house with us." Prue said. Looking at Paige, her youngest sister, Prue couldn't help feeling ashamed. She, Piper, and Phoebe had grown up together, and Paige, well Paige was unwanted and homeless, living on the streets and mugging people to survive, all because she had a different father. "We need to talk about something."

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Prue's ashamed feeling grew as she listened to Paige's story. It wasn't just because Paige was her baby sister, and she had had a terrible life while Prue's life was fine. Prue also felt ashamed because sometimes she had wanted to use her power to help herself, to do what she wanted and not abide those stupid rules. But here was this homeless person, who could've used her power to get food and a place to stay, but instead she chose to live on the street, cold and hungry rather than use her power for personal gain.

Piper and Phoebe felt much the same way, but not as much a Prue. Prue was the big sister, the one in charge, and when you've faced death as much as they had, the feeling of responsibility increased. Prue felt like she had abandoned Paige. She was the oldest, she should have noticed her mother was pregnant. But she hadn't, and Paige had faced a life of rejection and pain.

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It hurt Paige to relive her past, but something about these people made her want to tell them about her life, something about them made her feel safe and wanted for the first time in her life.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 

After Paige had finished telling her story she had fallen asleep on the sofa. It was pretty late, so the rest of them decided to get some rest too. "I'll be up in a minute." Prue told her sisters, she just wanted to make sure Paige was ok.

"You can't blame yourself for what happened Prue, you were still just a little girl, there was nothing you could have done to prevent this." Piper stated, worried about her older sister. "I can't help but think that if I had noticed mom pregnant none of this would have happened. Paige could have grown up with us and we could fight evil together." Prue replied.

Just then Leo orbed in. "Hurry, you have to get Paige out of here! The Elders are going to be furious, they resent Piper and me if they find out about Paige, who knows what they'll do."

"You're too late Leo, we already have." A tall robed figure was standing in front of them. He didn't look happy. "We are willing to forgive you this once because you are blinded from the danger by your love for Piper, but don't try to come after Paige. We can sense you, and if you do, you'll be expelled." With that he turned to go, but Prue yelled out "Wait!"

"What danger? She has done nothing but good, she kills demons, she saves innocents, why can't you people see that? Are you so afraid of a mix that you would imprison someone who has spent her life helping people? Someone who, despite the horrors in her life, has never turned evil or used her magic for personal gain?" Prue was seething, she just got her sister back, and she wasn't going to let some creep take her away again.

The Elder just stood there, calmly waiting for her to finish before he spoke. "It is you who is blind. This girl, this monster is a half-bread, a danger. Who knows what powers she may have. She may be good now, but if she were ever to turn evil, or if a demon got her powers, who knows what would happen."

Piper stepped up this time. "You say that, but it's the same gamble with any other witch. How can you condemn her, and her alone?"

The Elder just said, "Because of what she is." Then he disappeared.

Prue, Piper, Phoebe, and Leo ran into the living room. Paige was gone.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 

Pure, Piper, Phoebe, and Leo stared at the sofa where they had last seen Paige.

"I'm going to get her." Leo informed them and was about to orb out when Piper said, "Stop Leo. If you go, the Elders will expel you, she our sister, let us take care of it."

"But Piper," Leo started to say, but he stopped when he saw the looks he was getting from all three sisters. "Fine." Leo said and fell silent.

"What are we going to do, I mean their the Elders, what can we do?" Phoebe asked, her voice shaking slightly. "Do you think they'll hurt her?"

"No," Leo ventured "They may hate her for what she is, but they are still a source of good, they won't hurt her, but that won't keep them from locking her up until she dies."

"We may have just met her, but she is our sister, if the Elders think that their being 'holy' and whatnot is going to stop us, they can go to hell" Prue said.

"You know how unlikely that is?" Leo asked. His comment was met with glares on all sides. "Right, sorry, not the point." He finished sheepishly.

"Let's go check the book, it might have something for insane Elders." Piper said without much hope.

No one wanted to voice that no one good had ever fought an Elder before. Even though they all knew the book wouldn't have anything, they still turned to it, it had helped them before, and you can't kill hope.

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Paige woke up, and quickly shut her eyes again. Slowly she opened her eyes again and let them adjust. She was in a small squire room. All the walls were a brilliant white color, the light reflecting from the walls had temporarily blinded her.

The door opened, and three people came in. They were wearing long robes, and there was no expression on their faces. "Paige Halliwell, you are here because you are half wightlighter, half witch. This is a violation of our rules. While in this room, you do not need food or water. You will be spending the rest of your life here. This is the last time anyone will come here, so if you have any questions please voice them now."

Paige sat there stunned, she had to say something because they were turning to leave, "Wait! Who are you people? What's a wightlighter? What rules?" The men stopped looking exasperated. "I'll stay." One of them said. He explained tonelessly and Paige sat there, stunned.

When he left, she was still trying to understand, 'How could someone so good, be so prejudice?' A few hours passed before it sank in. Paige realized that the last person she would ever see was the toneless Elder, a person who hated her for what she was, hated her because her father was a wightlighter. Hated her because he didn't understand her. She just wished he had told her who her parents were, she understood now why they had given her up, they had given her a life, given her a chance, and for that she thanked them from the bottom of her heart.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 

Paige had no idea how long she had been in this room, a day, a week, a month, it was all the same in this place. She tried to orb for the billionth time, she knew it was useless but she tried anyway. And when that didn't work, she screamed, tried to get someone, anyone, she just wanted to see another human face, to hear another human voice. She had known pain, known fear, but nothing was as bad as this, this emptiness, this lost feeling. She was going crazy. The Elders were the 'good' guys, they didn't want to kill her, because no matter how mush they hated her, causing her physical pain was against their rules. So they tortured her mind instead, leaving her to stare at the same blank walls, breathe the same sentless air, hear nothing but her own voice, and to be alone, never again to taste a cup of coffee, or a bite of ice-cream. She was alone, totally alone and it was killing her, slowly and painfully.

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It had been three weeks sense the Elders had taken Paige, and they had found nothing. It was past midnight, and Prue was up searching the book of shadows, hoping that this time something might catch her eye. But of course, nothing ever did.

Piper came up the stairs followed by Phoebe. "Prue, you have to get some rest," Piper said "We've been through their a hundred times and nothings ever changes."

"So you're just going to give up? Forget about Paige?" Prue almost yelled.

"Of course not Prue, we just need to find a different approach. Paige is our sister and we're not going to let the Elders keep her. We'll get her back." Phoebe said with more conviction than she felt.

"But how do we go up against the Elders?" Prue asked.

"You won't have to." A voice said behind them. They knew that voice. Phoebe gritted her teeth before turning around. "Hello Cole, how nice of you to drop by." She said in an icy tone.

"Hi Phoebe, I can help you, I can get Paige back. You know I can, I am all powerful after all."

"Drop dead Cole."

"Been there, done that." Was his response.

Phoebe started to turn her back to him when a thought struck her. Turning back around she asked, "How do you know about Paige?"

"Oh you know, a little eavesdropping never did anyone any harm." Cole said. "Think about my offer, I think it's the only way." He grinned and shimmered away.

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It had been three days since Cole had dropped by and the sisters were getting more and more desperate. No one wanted to voice the opinion that Cole might be right, he might be the only one able to save Paige.

Prue walked over to Phoebe, she had become increasingly distant, trying, hoping to find something instead of Cole. All of them knew that if they asked Cole, if would be Phoebe's discussion, and she would only use him as a last resort, a resort that seemed to be coming closer and closer every second.

"You ok?" Prue asked, "We're all really worried about you. You haven't slept in two days."

"I'm fine Prue, it's just, Cole, he keeps popping into my head, and then I remember everything Paige told us. I don't know what to do, I don't know what to say."

"It's okay Phoebe," Piper said, coming up behind Prue. "We'll find a way."

"No we won't and you know it." Phoebe said bluntly. "But we can't just forget about Paige either. I'm calling Cole. He was right, it is the only way."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 

Leo orbed in, "I might have found a way."

The sisters turned around, he didn't know what they had been about to do.

"How Leo? How can anyone but Cole help us? Help Paige?" Phoebe asked.

"I can help you." A voice said and another man appeared next to Leo. A man wearing a long robe.

"An Elder? Why would you help?" Prue asked.

"He's not just any Elder," Leo said, "He's The Elder. The oldest, everyone listens to him. What he says, goes."

"It was my decision to go after Paige. I hated her for what she is. But over this past month, I can't shake off this feeling of wrongness. It's not her, it's me, all of us who condemned her. It is easy for us to hate her because we don't understand her, but then, we are the Elders, the ones who preserve peace and prosperity in the world. I have seen her pain and it perches me to the heart. I have always done good things, helped others, but now, me, and the rest of the Elders have gone to far, we have crossed the line, we have, in a sense turned evil."

Prue, Piper, and Phoebe stared at the Elder. "So let me ask you something. Do you want to let her go to clean your conscience, or do you not hate her anymore, have you actually changed your mind about her?" Piper asked.

"Well, lets just say the we are willing to let it, um, her, go."

"So, in other words, your letting her go because you feel bad, not because you actually had a change of heart." It was more of a statement than a question, the Elder didn't say anything.

"So you're going to convince the rest of the Elders to release Paige? You imprisoned her and now your just going to let her go?" Prue asked. "Please, I beg of you, tell me the catch." She finished with just a hint of sarcasm.

"Oh, yes the catch, it's really nothing, just if she misuses he power, she comes right back up with us. And, um, the four of you will be getting assigned to go after several very powerful demons over the next month or two." The Elder finished.

Piper put up her hands and the Elder froze. "What should we do?" she asked her sisters and Leo.

"It's better than asking Cole, and even if their not doing it out of love, or whatever, we still get her back. The four of us should be able to take on those demons, I mean, we've fought powerful demons before. I'm in." Phoebe said.

"Me too." Both Piper and Prue said at the same time.

"Are you guys sure? You could get killed going after those demons." Leo said, sounding worried.

"So, what else is knew?" Piper said, she was met with a worried look from Leo. "Oh, come on Leo, it's either this or Cole."

"You're right, sorry, I just don't want anything bad to happen to any of you."

Piper unfroze the Elder, who looked perturbed. "You froze me, didn't you?" He asked Piper.

"I can blow you up too if you don't get Paige right now." She said, raising her hands, "Might be fun."

The Elder left hurriedly, even though he would just reform, getting blown up is not a pleasant experience.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10 

Paige sat in her prison, she had long given up yelling or screaming. Now she just sat hour after hour, day after day, accepting her fate.

In this room she was truly trapped, she was denied everything, even the power to take her own life. Normally she would never consider suicide, but being in this room, knowing she would always be their, suicide was a pleasure she longed for.

Paige kept wondering when she would go crazy, both dreading and welcoming the thought. If she went crazy, she would no longer be alone. She would be able to talk to people in her mind, thinking it was real. But on the other hand, going crazy would mean that the Elders had won, they would have seceded in getting rid of her both physically and mentally.

Some part of her even wondered if the Elders were right, maybe she deserved this fate, she didn't know how or why, but as time wore on the thought seemed more appealing to her. If she deserved to be here, it didn't seem so bad, the Elders were good people, surely they put her here because she deserved it.

So she convinced herself that this was right, it was just, the thought took away some of the pain and made it bearable. In fact, after a while, all the pain went away, the world was better without her she told herself. This is the best for everyone. With that thought playing over and over in her mind she fell asleep.

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Paige was happy to think that she deserved to be locked up, so when she woke up and found herself back in the Halliwell's house she looked around confused. She knew she wasn't crazy yet, she could feel her powers were back.

Prue, Piper, and Phoebe were leaning over her. "Are you ok? They didn't hurt you right?" they asked her.

"Why am I here? I should be locked up in my room! I don't deserve to be here!" Paige started yelling frantically, "I belong locked up, the Elders wouldn't have done it if it wasn't right! Take me back!"

Leo walked up behind her and held his hand over her head. A second latter Paige fell back onto the sofa, fast asleep.

"What's wrong with her?" Prue asked him. All three of them were a little shaken up by the fact that Paige seemed to think she deserved to be locked away.

"I've heard of this before," Leo said looking worried. "Sometimes when people are in a lot of pain mentally, they convince themselves that they deserve it. Believing that it's just even if it isn't. It makes the pain go away."

"So what do we do?" Phoebe asked. The sisters looked expectantly at Leo.

"I can't tell you that. The first demon on the list the Elders gave us is Paige's inner demon. You have to find a way to save her yourselves."

"Leo, what list?" Piper asked.

"Oh, I thought I gave it to you, sorry." 1. Paige's inner demon 2. The Tempest 3. The Demon of Fear 4. The Source

"Ok great, the demon of Fear is on the list. Haven't we vanquished him like three times?" Prue asked.

"Well, hopefully the fourth time with all four of us will work." Phoebe put in.

"Um guys, I think we should concentrate on Paige first. Any ideas?"

Silence filled the room, or at least until Phoebe's hand brushed Paige and she had a premonition.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 

"I know what we have to do." Phoebe told them, a grim look on her face.

"What?" Prue asked.

"You're not going to like it." Phoebe warned before explaining. "One of us has to bind our soul to Paige's soul, then expel our soul from our body. When they expel their soul, their spirit will become part of her spirit."

"How will that help?" Piper asked.

"Once the two spirits are joined, whichever one of us does it will be able to convince Paige that she is wrong. We can use memories, thoughts, anything to make her remember she never did anything to deserve to be locked up."

"So how do we get out afterward?" Piper asked.

"Leo, can you help us with this part?" Phoebe said turning to their whitelighter.

"Paige can expel your soul by signing her name in blood on your forehead and saying the binding spell backward." Leo explained.

"What if she doesn't get better?" Piper asked again.

"Well…"

Before Leo could answer Prue, who had been quiet throughout the conversation spoke up, "I'll do it."

"Prue?" Phoebe said.

"I want to do it, I can't forget that my baby sister had to go through so much. I need to do this for her as much as for me."

They didn't argue with her, it wouldn't have worked anyway. The three of them walked upstairs, and Leo orbed the still unconscious Paige up to the attic and they began to get the preparations ready.

Paige and Prue were placed in a circle of candles. Prue pricked first her finger, and then Paige's finger. Taking a drop of her blood, she put it on Paige's wound and recited:

Spirits two,  
One become,  
Mine to hers,  
Till it is done.

Prue's body fell over, nether moving or breathing.

"How do we know she's ok?" Piper asked Leo.

"We have faith and we wait."

And so they did.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12 

Prue looked down and for a brief instant, she saw her own body lying motionless. Then she was sucked into Paige and everything went black.

Memories started to flood her mind, but she pushed them back for now. Concentrating she heard one thought repeated over and over in Paige's/her mind. 'I deserve to be locked up. I deserve it.'

Prue found that she wasn't hearing it, she was thinking it, and if she was thinking it she could change it. Just then her spirit settled fully into Paige. This time she was unable to hold back the memories as they became a part of her. In a brief second, she relived Paige's life up to this point.

She lost herself in them, forgetting who she was, she became Paige, thinking the same thing, 'I deserve to be locked up. I deserve it.' It wasn't until she saw Prue, Piper, and Phoebe standing over her that she remembered, I'm Prue, not Paige. She concentrated on the thought, until it was repeated over in the mind.

Prue began to look through the memories, stopping every now and then when she found one of Paige helping someone.

A memory of Paige when she was 10: Paige was walking to school, she walked past an ally and looked inside. Two men were standing over another man. "Hand it over, Punk" they were saying as they repeatedly kicked the man, one of them took out a knife about to stab the wounded man in the arm. Paige called on her power and two trashcans became engulfed in blue orbs. Paige hurled them at the first two men. Berated by trash they ran off screaming.

A memory of Paige when she was 13: Paige was walking down an ally with a potion clutched in her hand. Hearing screaming, she ran toward it and stopped when a demon came into view, he was busy trying to choke someone but Paige ran forward and threw her potion. The demon disappeared in a pit of fire. The man he had been trying to kill got awkwardly to his feet, "Thanks." He mumbled before running off.

Prue found other memories, and after playing each memory in her/Paige's mind she thought 'I helped people, I never did anything to be locked up. The Elders were wrong.'

After each memory finished, Paige began to come back to reality a little more. Soon the thought 'I deserve to be locked up. I deserve it.' Began to weaken till it stopped altogether. Prue continued to show her good memories until she reached the part where the Elders had taken her away.

Leo's sleep spell had begun to where off a few minutes ago, and Prue had found her foothold in Paige's mind starting to slip. When Paige came fully awake, Prue found herself hurled into the back of the mind, she could see what Paige was seeing and thinking, but she had no influence over what Paige did.

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Paige found herself lying on the floor, she remembered everything, but the thing that stuck out most clearly was that the Elders were wrong, she was a good person she helped people, and she was Pure not Paige. 'Wait, that's not right I'm Prue, no I'm not, I'm not Paige. AHGGGG!' Giving up, she looked up to see Piper and Phoebe looking at her.

"Hi." She said.

"Are you better now?" Piper asked her.

Nodding Paige said "Yeah, sorry about before, and thanks for saving me."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13 

It took a while for everything to get sorted out. Prue had to be taken care of, food needed to be made, and finally explanations were told.

"So you made a deal with them that we would go after some demons, you only met me once, why risk your life for me?" Paige asked.

This was the tricky part, Phoebe and Piper looked to Prue.

"Paige, you're not just some person we happened to meet once, you're much more than that. We may not have known you for very long but that doesn't matter. All that matters to us is that you're our sister, you're family and we would risk anything for you, we love you." Prue thought this would be hard, but once she started talking the words just seemed to come.

"I don't know what to say." Paige stuttered, her eyes filling with tears.

"Don't say anything." Prue said and then embraced her in a hug. Piper and Phoebe joined and the four of them stayed that way for awhile.

When Piper and Phoebe pulled away they saw Prue holding Paige. Paige had fallen asleep in her arms. Carrying her over to the sofa was easier than it should have been she hardly weighed anything at all.

"We can start on the demons tomorrow." Prue said. Piper and Phoebe nodded.

"Let's all go to bed, we need our rest." Piper said.

"I'm going to stay down here tonight, just in case she needs anything." Prue said stroking Paige's head, "I just want to make sure she's ok."

Piper and Phoebe nodded and left to go to bed, they would have offered to stay downstairs, but they knew it was best to let them be.

Prue watched them head upstairs, then she turned and looked at Paige. She was sleeping softly, her chest rising and falling, simple, peaceful sleep. She looked so young, so frail. 'Why her?' Prue asked herself, 'Why did it have to happen to her?'

Prue finally fell asleep that night. She lay on the floor next to the sofa. At some point in the night, Paige rolled over and her hand fell across Prue waking her. Prue got up and tucked Paige back in. Paige was smiling in her sleep, her smile filled Prue with gladness, "Nothing will happen to you, I promise." She whispered before lying back down and drifting off into her own dream.

Pure's dream was a memory, not her memory, but one of Paige's when she was about seven. She should have forgotten it, but for some reason it clung in her mind.

Paige was hiding in the corner of the school yard. She was crying to herself 'why does everybody hate me?' she was thinking, just then another girl came up to her, the girl looked like she was in middle school, "Are you ok?" she asked. Paige continued to cry. The girl stayed with Paige, helping her. After a little time had pasted, Paige had stopped crying turning to the girl she said, "Thank you, I think you're the nicest person in the whole wide world." Then she ran off.

The memory ended and Prue woke up, 'That girl was me.' She realized, 'I was there for her even if it was only once, but I was there for her.' When Prue fell back asleep, she too had a smile on her lips.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14 

Paige woke up early the next morning feeling truly refreshed for the first time in years. One would think it would have been one of those flashback moments where you take a few moments to remember where you are, but it wasn't. Paige knew exactly where she was, the events of yesterday were imprinted in her mind, she would never forget the feeling of happiness that had engulfed her upon learning she had a family.

She got up and looked around and saw Prue lying on the ground next to her. Paige stepped carefully over her before turning around and orbing Prue up onto the sofa. Prue rolled over but didn't wake.

Paige walked around the house until she found the stairs. She didn't know why but she had to see something somewhere and she had a feeling that something was up the stairs. Her feet carried her to the attic and over to a book that was lying on a stand.

Paige traced the design on the front, a three triangle/oval thing. As her fingers finished tracing the pattern it began to glow, brighter and brighter till she had to cover her eyes from the blinding light. It flashed once then died away altogether. When she looked again the design had changed, instead of three things, there were four triangle/oval things all interconnected.

Paige felt a warmth spread threw her fingers from where she had touched the book throughout the rest of her body. It was the feeling of truly belonging, the feeling of power, and the feeling of everything good, the feeling of love.

She opened the book and began to read. With each page the warmth in her grew until she began to shine with the light, it pulsated threw her willing her to understand. And when she finally did the power died away, not gone, just absorbed inside her soul waiting for her to call it out again.

This was her power, part of the power of four. They all had powers other than the main ones, but each of them had a main power, a power granted through the power of three (now four). And now Paige had hers. The power to channel good. She raised her hand and watched as it began to glow again. If she touched a demon while using her power it would hurt him, her touch was toxic to evil, but it was a healing touch to good.

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Prue woke up with a start, she was lying on the sofa and Paige was nowhere in sight. She should have felt panic, but instead she felt peaceful, warmth passed over her reassuring her. She calmly got up and began to walk up the stairs toward the source of the peaceful feeling. She met Phoebe and Piper on the stairs, none of them said anything they just walked into the attic.

Paige was standing there. She was glowing with a soft white light, slowly the light died away but no one said anything. She lifted her hand and it began to glow again, she turned around and smiled at them.

"Look," she said, "I'm really part of you now."

"You always were." Prue said.

Just then the book began to turn, pages flipped and the moment was broken. Paige's hand stopped glowing and the four of then gathered around the book.

"The Tempest," Phoebe said, "Don't the Elders ever give us a break."

"Nope, thought you would have realized that by now." Piper said.

The four of them laughed, they were a family, through the good and the bad and now that it was time to face the next challenge, it was worth it.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15 

"Ok, here it is, basically everything we already know, the Tempest fiddles with time and such." Piper said standing over the book.

"Any potions or spells to vanquish him?" Prue asked.

"Nope, nothing new since… the last time." Piper said. She had almost said since Andy died.

"So how did you beat him the last time?" Paige asked.

"He put us in a time loop and we broke it by speeding up time." Phoebe filled her in.

When Paige heard this she turned to Piper. "Why don't you just freeze him and blow him up over and over again? The shift in time that he has no control over might weaken him and then we could do a spell to vanquish him completely."

"That could work. Piper?" Prue said.

"Ok then let get the show on the road. You three work on a spell and call me when you're ready." Piper said starting toward the door.

"Where are you going?" Prue asked.

"Me?" Piper said innocently, "I'm going back to bed, I do have to do most of the work." Piper grinned as the others groaned, "Oh come on, it's only," She looked at her watch, "5:30 in the morning you should be fine." She said as she left.

Phoebe turned to Paige and started hitting her repeatedly with a pillow. "Couldn't you have woken us up a few hours later?"

Paige ran for cover behind Prue yelling, "I didn't mean to, you people just followed me up here. Prue help!"

"Help? Now that I think of it, you did get us up rather early of course I'll help." Prue then proceeded to help Phoebe by using her powers to fling pillows at Paige.

Paige orbed the pillows back at her sisters and then orbed away herself.

"Paige!" Prue called as she and Phoebe looked all around the room trying to find her. It would have been easy if they had looked up. Paige was clinging to the rafters watching the seen below.

Phoebe walked underneath her and Paige called out her name. Phoebe looked up startled and was just in time to see Paige launch herself from the ceiling at her. The two of them fell into a pile of pillows Paige had orbed over to break their fall. Laughing Prue pulled the two of them apart and started lecturing the two of them on the unsafeness of jumping and blah blah blah, she even did it with a strait face.

"May I?" Paige asked Phoebe.

"Be my guest." Phoebe replied.

Prue disappeared in blue orbs.

"Where did you send her?" Phoebe asked.

"Into Piper's room." Paige replied as a shriek sounded from downstairs.

It took them awhile to get settled down again, Piper had decided to stay up and help after being awakened by Prue falling on top of her. Phoebe set to work writing a spell, she had always been fairly good at that, Piper started breakfast, and Prue started to show Paige how they did things at the manor.

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"Ok, this is what I have, " Phoebe announced after they had eaten, "The first spell is to summon the Tempest and the next is to destroy him."

"Hear my call,  
Wherever you may be,  
Time and space mean little to me.

Cross the distance,  
The great divide,  
Oh Tempest I do summon thee."

Phoebe looked at her sisters.

"Ok good, next one please." Prue said.

"Right, this one is to destroy the Tempest." Phoebe said.

"Blow up,  
Stand still,  
Time beyond your will,  
Become destroyed,  
By time's great void."

"Ok, that's good, so let's vanquish us some demons." Paige said.

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They stood in the attic, Piper in front of them all with her hands raised ready to blow up the Tempest.

The four of them read the summing spell and watched as smoke billowed up and the Tempest appeared. Before he could react Piper blew him up and froze him and blew him up again.

"Get ready for the spell." She yelled back at her sisters and four voices rose in unison saying the vanquishing spell.

The Tempest yelled and tried to fight but was over come by the power of the four witches and he blew up in a brilliant spectrum of colors.

They stood there looking at the chaired spot on the ground each thinking different thoughts.

Prue thought of Andy and of her long awaited revenge, Piper thought of the mess she was going to have to clean up, Phoebe just wanted to go back to bed, and Paige felt happy, this was her first vanquish as part of the family and it felt good.

Finally the silence was broken by Paige saying, "How about second breakfast?"

Piper turned to her, "You ate all the food I had, right now I think you better take a shower."

Paige backed away, "Those things are unhealthy for you, I'm happy as I am."

Piper dragged her away and Phoebe left after them heading for her room. Only Prue stayed looking at the charred spot of wood. Walking over to it she placed her hand on it and looked up, "I'm sorry I couldn't save you Andy, but at least now you're revenged."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16 

"Right, next on the list is the demon of fear, aka Barbus." Piper told her sisters.

"Don't remind me." Prue said glumly.

"What's so bad about him?" Paige asked.

"Oh I don't know, maybe the fact that it seems nothing can kill him, I don't remember how many times we've tried to vanquish him but he keeps coming back." Piper answered.

"That won't happen this time." Phoebe assured them causing her three sisters to look inquiringly at her. "Ever since Leo told us we would have to face him again I've been doing some thinking. Why don't we hit him with a potion for every emotion but fear."

"Come again?" Paige asked.

"A potion that has herbs that inspire or stand for some type of emotion, such as mistletoe for love, that sort of thing. We put in things for every emotion we can think of, but we don't put in anything fear related." Phoebe clarified.

Her statement was greeted by silence. "Um, something wrong guys?" She asked worriedly.

"Phoebe, you're a genus." Prue stated. The others agreed.

"Right so now we need to get a list together of all the things we need." Piper said, as ever the organized one. "We already have a summing spell in the Book of Shadows, so let's get started on the potion."

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"Every one ready?" Prue asked. The four of them were standing in the attic each of them holding a bottle of the Barbus vanquishing potion tightly in their hand.

Her question was greeted by nods from each sister. "Ok then, let's do this and vanquish him for the last time."

Four voices rose in a steady chant as the sisters read the spell.

"You play the game of evil,  
You play the game of death,  
We play no game but call you for your end.

Fear you spread,  
So come spread it here,  
We will oppose you,  
Deadly Barbus dear."

A tower of black mist gathered in front of them, building to form the shape of a man.

"Hello, I was wondering when I'd get a call from you again, it's so nice that you remembered me." Barbus grinned, then he caught sight of Paige and his grin widened, "Ah, it appears the rumors are correct, you do indeed have a forth sister."

"Stay away from her." Piper said as she threw her potion at Barbus.

Barbus dogged the potion and threw a dagger, "Oh I'm sorry." He said.

The dagger's handle stuck out of Paige's stomach and she fell to the floor coughing up blood. Her potion fell from her grasp and shattered on the ground.

"You bastard!" Prue yelled and threw her potion. Unfortunately at the same time Piper blew him up. The potion crashed into the far wall as Barbus began to reform.

"You know, you are so predictable," Barbus told them, "All I have to do is knock off a sister of two, easy really." He said looking pointedly at Paige. Phoebe was on the floor next to her trying to stop the bleeding.

"Leo!" she called.

"I blocked this place, he won't be able to get in." Barbus informed them cheerfully.

Prue grabbed a dagger off of the table next to her and lunched herself at Barbus trying to hit him. He backed away but when Prue lunged at him a second time he disappeared and reappeared behind her.

"Sleep tight." He said as he gave her a push sending her crashing to the floor where she lay unconscious.

As Paige and Prue were down and Phoebe was trying to save Paige, Barbus turned toward Piper. "Ready to die?" He asked her as he waved his hand in front of her face, sweeping her mind for her greatest fear.

"Not quite." Piper responded, a second later something hit him in the back. He screamed as the potion took effect.

Barbus's skin began to change color: yellow for happiness, pink for love, red for rage, blue for coldness, green for envy, violet for pride, gray for pain, and after several other colors, his skin turned black for lack of emotion.

Each time his skin changed color, Barbus screamed louder, but when his skin finally turned black he stopped screaming and turned around.

"You killed me." He said to Phoebe and then he began to fold in on himself and shrink. When he was about a foot tall he collapsed leaving a pile of black dust behind.

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After Leo had come and healed Paige and Prue, Phoebe asked him about the dust that was all that was left of Barbus. They sat around the kitchen table while Leo looked into the bottle that contained the ashes.

"Is he dead?" Phoebe asked.

"Yes and no," Leo responded, "What you did was the equivalent of dehydrating someone. If you were to take all of the water out of a person's body you would end up with something like this. But in this case instead of water being deprived it was fear."

"So he's not dead?" Piper asked.

"He is but if you pumped enough fear back into the dust here he would regenerate, so that's why I'll be taking this now." Leo said and orbed away with the ashes.

"He really is unkillable." Paige said sounding awed.

"Told you." Piper said.

So ends the most recent encounter with Barbus, the demon that somehow manages to stay alive no matter how many times he is vanquished.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17 

Prue walked into Phoebe's bedroom and shook her sister awake.

"Go away." Phoebe mumbled trying to hide under the blankets, Prue simply used her power to yank the sheets away and into the corner of the room.

"Follow me." Prue said and then left without leaving any time for argument.

Phoebe considered going back to bed but then decided against it, Prue would just come back again, sighing she got up to follow her sister.

Prue walked into Piper's bedroom with a confused looking Phoebe at her heels.

"We need to talk." Prue informed them sitting on the edge of the bed.

"What about? And shouldn't Paige be here?" Piper asked, she was still awake despite the late hour (she had been making a morning shower schedule that included all four of them, though Paige still insisted that showers were bad for your health).

"Actually it's about Paige, she has been sleeping on the sofa for the past several days, we need to get her a room." Prue informed them.

"I've been thinking about that," Piper said, "We don't have a spare room but Phoebe's room is big enough to fit the two of them and she's only a few years older that Paige."

'Trust Piper to have a plan all worked out.' Prue thought and then turned to Phoebe, "What do you think?"

Phoebe, who was almost asleep again noticed that Prue was asking her approval on something, she had no idea what it was as she had been trying to recover her dream about flying hippos but she mumbled a "Sure." And then promptly fell asleep, her face twisted into a smile as several large green and red hippos flew by.

As she slept Prue and Piper began planing the invasion of her room.

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Paige woke up as her sisters came down the stairs the next morning, she rolled off the sofa and followed them into the kitchen watching them pore hot coffee into cups. She had no idea how they could drink that stuff, and they had no idea how she lived without it.

"Paige, Prue is going to take you to get some new clothes, and Phoebe and I have some errands to run." Piper informed her.

"I don't need any clothes, the ones Phoebe gave me should last for awhile." Paige said.

"Ok Paige let me explain a little something to you," Phoebe said looking horrified at the prospect of someone not wanting to go shopping, "You can't ware the same clothes every day."

"Why not?" Paige asked looking confused. Phoebe launched into a brilliant speech about how important clothes were and why you needed them and whatnot, by the time she finished Paige was looking even more confused at how someone could care that much about what they wore.

"And that is why I'm taking you and not Phoebe." Prue said, leaning over she whispered into Paige's ear, "Don't argue, Phoebe will just go into another speech."

"Ok but what about the Source? Don't we have to vanquish him?" Paige asked them.

"The Source doesn't know for sure we're coming after him, it's best to wait a few days until he lowers his guard a bit." Piper explained, "Breakfast is ready."

After breakfast Piper and Phoebe went off in one car and Prue took Paige in another car.

"Do we really have to? I mean what I'm wearing is fine." Paige asked, dreading the trip. Prue didn't answer she just pulled out of the driveway and began to drive.

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Several hours later Piper and Phoebe returned home with a truck rolling behind them, Piper instructed the workmen to move the bed upstairs while Phoebe sat on the sofa downstairs trying to figure out where the bed was going to go. She still had no idea it was going in her room.

After the workmen left Piper called down to Phoebe, "Come up and help me move your stuff around."

Phoebe started to get up slowly and then realizing what Piper had said, she raced up the stairs and stopped at the sight before her. Her bed had been moved against one wall and the bed they had gotten for Paige was against the other wall.

"Come on, we have to make some room for the stuff Prue and Paige bring back." Piper said, then turning around she noticed her sister's stunned expression. "Don't look so surprised, you said we could do this last night."

"I… um… I did? When?" Phoebe stammered.

"Remember Prue asked you last night when we were all in my room." Piper said slowly.

"That's what she was asking? I thought she was asking what color the hippos were!" Phoebe said.

"Hippos?"

"Never mind."

"Ok, so anyway, it's too late to back out now so help me move your stuff." Piper said.

"I wasn't going to back out, I was just surprised that's all." Phoebe muttered under her breath and then began to help Piper.

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Piper and Phoebe had just finished when Paige and Prue came back laden with packages, none of which Paige really wanted.

"Where are you going to put everything?" Paige asked her sister.

"Follow me." Was her only reply.

Paige stared in disbelief at Phoebe's erratically changed room. It was clean for one thing, but there were two beds and the walk in closet was open revealing space for all the things Prue had made her get.

"You didn't think we'd make you sleep on the sofa your whole life, did you?" Prue said smiling at the look on Paige's face.

"But," Paige's voice squeaked and she tried again, "But this is so much, I don't need all this, and it's Phoebe's room."

"Come on Paige, I don't mind sharing it with you, it will be fun, trust me." Phoebe said.

"You sure it's ok?" Paige asked.

"Of course, it was my idea you know." The last remark earning Phoebe glares from Piper and Prue, which she ignored as she started telling Paige just how the idea had come to her. She spoke until she noticed that Piper and Prue were putting Paige's things away and she stopped in the middle of a sentience and ran over to them to see what they were.

Paige sat on her new bed and looked at her sisters, living in Phoebe's room would be interesting, that went without saying, but she had to agree with Phoebe, it would be fun.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18 

It was about a week later that the sisters finally decided to go after the Source. The previous week had been uneventful, as none of the demons seemed to want to go up against four Charmed Ones.

The sisters were currently in the attic (where else?) talking about different methods of vanquishing the Source.

"Well we could lure him to us or go to him, we say a power of four spell and he goes poof, it's really not that hard people." Prue was saying, she had becoming tired of listening to her sisters try to come up with complex plans. Piper wanted to take control of several demons, and use the demons to infiltrate the Source's lair to kill him. Phoebe was all for orbing down to the underworld and using a spell to send the Source to the core of the earth. And Paige wanted to plant explosives everywhere in the underworld and set them all off at the same time.

"Come on Prue, have you no heart?" Phoebe wined, "That is so unoriginal."

"This is the Source we're talking about here Phoebe, we need to vanquish him, not send him on vacation to look at how volcanoes are formed." Prue countered.

"Fine, we summon the Source using this spell," Phoebe held up a piece of paper, "Piper blows him up and Paige orbs the crystals around him while he's reforming, then we use this spell to vanquish him." Phoebe finished and turned the paper over.

"What…How?" Prue asked as Piper, Phoebe, and Paige fell over laughing at the look on her face.

(I must now skip the next section of the story, as it is too violent for you to read. All you need to know is that Prue greatly thrashed her sisters into almost non-existence.)

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"Fun as that was," Prue said glaring at her sisters, "We need to vanquish the Source." She waved her hand to move things out of the way clearing a space for the sister's and the Source.

Phoebe grabbed the crystals and handed them to Paige. Then the four sisters stepped back and began the spell.

"From darkness great,  
With goodness none,  
The one true evil,  
To us now come."

The air went deadly still and for a fraction of a second all the sounds were cut off leaving the sisters hearing utter nothingness. But that was only for a second as the room filled with a roar and they were sucked away into a black portal.

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Paige woke up and looked around her. When the portal had enveloped her she had fallen unconscious. She was in a cage and her sisters were in similar cages, each far enough away from the others to avoid them using a power of four spell. Her sisters were also starting to get up, all showing sighs of being asleep moments ago.

"I thought you might try to summon me soon." A voice spoke from behind her. Turning Paige saw a black robed figure sitting on a throne. "I set up a little trap as you see. When you tried to summon me you were brought here instead. No use trying to break free, those cages contain your magic."

At his words Piper tried to blow up her cage but to no avail. Paige tried to orb out, but s soon as she reached the bars she was thrown backward and out of the orb.

"You see, you are mine now." The Source said. "Finally, the Charmed Ones will fall." The Source laughed as he stood up and walked toward them, his eyes rolling over each sister. "So who to kill first, and who to torture the longest?" His eyes stopped on Paige.

"Stay away from her." One of her sisters yelled, but Paige couldn't make out which one, she was lost in his gaze, his eyes were so dark, so full of evil.

"Don't worry, you won't have to watch her die." The Source said grinning, "She will have to watch as each of you die, you know, you wouldn't be in this problem if not for the deal you had to make with the Elders."

"Don't listen to him Paige." Someone else yelled at her, but she knew he was right, this was all her fault.

That thought made her wake up, 'That's right, this is my fault, so I have to fix it.'

"Sorry," Paige told the Source putting her right arm behind her back, "But I don't plan on letting you kill anyone else."

With those words she drew out her hand to reveal that it was glowing with a soft white light. She formed an orb-ball in her hand and poured the light into it, making it glow with a power hated by evil.

The Source stood stunned as she raised her arm and threw the orb/goodness-ball at him. He tried to move out of the way but he was to slow and it hit him in the chest. Paige and her sisters watched as he screamed and his body began to glow with white light. The light built as his screams reached a forte causing the sisters to look away and cover their ears. Then everything went dark and silent. The cages crumbled into dust and they were free.

"Wow." Phoebe said.

"Yeah." Piper agreed.

Prue walked over to Paige, "Lets go home." She said, Paige just nodded.

**The End**


End file.
